Ikea to raise minimum hourly salaries to almost $12 in the US

Ikea will increase its minimum hourly wage for its US employees to $11.87, which is $4.62 above the US national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

From 1 January 2016, the average minimum hourly wage paid to staff will rise from $10.76 to $11.87, a $1.11, representing a 10.3% increase.

The initiative is being implemented across 42 of its 43 US stores, and will benefit 32% of Ikea US’s hourly retail employees. All five US distribution centres and all non-retail locations will also have minimum wages above the local living wage, and none of Ikea US’s 15,000 employees will have a minimum hourly wage below $10.00.

In June 2014, Ikea announced a new minimum wage structure for US employees, which bases minimum hourly wages on local living costs for staff.

Lars Petersson, president of Ikea US, said: “Ikea seeks to understand our employees’ lives and needs in order to make Ikea a great place to work. This latest wage increase is just the most recent in a series of investments grounded in our commitment to have a positive impact on our workers’ lives.

“This is not only the right thing to do for our staff, it’s also good for business. One year ago when we announced our new minimum wage structure based on local living conditions, we hoped it would contribute to reducing employee turnover.”